Latest from microorganisms

The Golden Gate Bridge, approaching its 75th anniversary, is the most photographed bridge in the world -- but what about what lies underneath it? Photographer David Liittschwager decided to address just that and discovered that the number of living things that pass through a cubic foot of water here in an hour is greater than the number of cars that have ever driven over it.

Using kite-mounted cameras and field microscopes, an architecture professor and a retired microbiologist have uncovered surprising diversity in an unassuming ditch next to a railroad grade that cuts across the South Bay salt ponds near Alviso. From vivid oranges laced with bird tracks to bright greens bubbling with oxygen exhaled by cyanobacteria, there's complexity and wonder waiting at the Weep, from several hundred feet in the air down to the microscopic level.